Jeanette Hussemann is a principal research associate in the Justice Policy Center at the Urban Institute. She is committed to using rigorous social science methods to inform and improve justice systems. Her research portfolio focuses on indigent defense, victimization, and juvenile justice. Hussemann directs projects that employ both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, and she has extensive experience conducting fieldwork in diverse settings.

Before joining Urban, Hussemann led research on plea bargaining, defender-defendant relationships, and trial-level decisionmaking at the Hennepin County Public Defender’s Office in Minnesota. She currently directs National Institute of Justice–funded research on the prevalence of wrongful conviction and perceptions of justice among human trafficking survivors. Hussemann received her PhD in sociology from the University of Minnesota.